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“Of course,” Indiana sighed. “I should have known it was you. Lady Kleito, huh?”
The red-headed woman in her late 60's smiled. “It's wonderful to have you here.”
Sophia Hapgood waved her hand to the young men who had followed Indiana to the room. “It's fine, you can leave.”
The young long-haired man hesitated. “You sure this old square is not part of the fuzz?”
Indy turned to look at him. “Square!?”
“It means-”
“I know what it means!”
“It's fine,” Sophia said. “I know him. He might be an old grump but that's no crime.”
The two young hippies gave Indy a suspicious glance, but left the room.
Sophia gestured at the pile of pillows on the floor. “Please, sit down.”
Indy did so.
Sophia reached to pat his knee. “Don't worry, I think you are very cool and groovy.”
Indy couldn't help a smile tugging at his lip. “Thanks.”
“Every generation thinks they come up with these things on their own,” Sophia said. “That their rebellion is unique...”
“Meanwhile, an old fox like you is just recycling her tricks,” Indy said, his tone accusatory. “I thought you had abandoned this kind of fake psychic nonsense. And yet here I find you, in the middle of a hippie commune, as some kind of a... What are you playing? Still pretending to be a medium? Or have you found religion? Don't tell me you are channeling some kind of Mother Goddess gobbled together from various exotic sounding religions.”
Indiana watched her. When had she become so old? It only now did occur to Indy that the bright red of her hair was most likely all from a bottle now...
“You should know well enough that there are forces in this world we cannot understand,” Sophia said.
“I know. That's why I'm worried.”
That was why he had been tracking the stolen Indian statue to this commune. He had a feeling any hippies would get more than they bargained for if they tried to use it as a prop for their parties.
Indy crossed his arms. “Most of them have no idea what they are doing. There's very little concern for actual historical context or how these beliefs fit in the original culture they came from. It seems to be all about doing what makes you feel good. I went through that in the 20's. I remember what it was like, back then.”
“I don't know, it feels different this time,” Sophia said. “Like things are actually changing, people are standing up for what is right.” She looked Indiana in the eye. “Did you hear about Stonewall?”
Indiana returned her gaze. “Like I said, I remember the 20's.”
He had felt freedom then too, when he had moved to France in his early 20's and discovered the vibrant Parisian night life. But the party had not gone on forever, backslash against perceived degeneracy had been severe, and those kind of bars had dwindled out. And everything had only become worse as far as Indiana was concerned.
He and Sophia had never directly talked about it. There was an acknowledgment of a sort there; Sophia knew Indiana slept with men sometimes, Indiana knew Sophia preferred women. There had never been any reason to discuss it further.
A silence fell.
“It's different this time,” Sophia said. “People are actually talking about things changing. A revolution, consider it.”
“A war, hm?”
“Transforming the world through love and sex. Bringing down barriers.”
Indy scoffed. “It's a beautiful idea. Unfortunately that's all it is.”
He was tired. And he wondered how genuine Sophia was being. The cheap beads hanging from her neck and the crystals she had surrounded herself with certainly seemed to imply this was all just a big performance for her. He knew she had left her job in the CIA behind once they backstabbed her, but he wondered...
Sophia had always wanted to change the world for the better, and sometimes it had led her aligning herself with people she really should not have.
“Are you telling me you have found your people in these children?”
“They might be young and foolish, but... Look around you, Indiana, there's hope. It might not be this generation who does it but maybe the next?”
“Hm.”
“At least it makes you want to believe, no?”
Silence fell. Eventually Indiana nodded.
“Yeah.”